Windy City Gridiron: FanPosts

My keys to victory over Cardinals

2009-11-06T23:59:08Z

-Jay Cutler needs to play like a star and leader again(I think he will this week)

-Matt Forte needs to continue his good gamedays like last week

-O-line NEEDS to protect better in every single category

-Defense needs to be on the same page from the beg. to end like last week

-Special teams should do good like usual(but better in coverage)

-Lastly, THE FANS NEED TO BE ALL PUMPED UP AND READY TO GO!!!

2010 O-Line Help in Draft? Unlikely

2009-11-06T06:45:09Z

If nothing else, JA and the gang have demonstrated a reliance upon the draft to build the team and are not always the first to scour the free agent market to find talent. Given recent history this almost goes without saying for our organization these days, and sticking with the current front office likely means a continuation of the building-through-the-draft mentality.

Which brings me to a small problem we are all reminded of come april. Trading for Cutler killed this year's high draft picks, and with the aquisition of Gaines Adams, who may be a steal from the Bucs perspective, we'll begin next year with round three yet again. Obviously, there are still many talented players to be found at that stage of the draft, but in terms of Offensive Lineman, we'll likely be out of luck. JA will characteristically address the position through the draft, and may land a solid player or two for the line, but offensive line talent decreases dramatically after the second round.

Since the 1999 draft, no offensive lineman taken third round or later has made the pro bowl. Two undrafted players have, Kris Dielman in 2003 and Brian Waters in 2001, but banking on hitting a home run post-draft is hopefully not the strategy for next year. As far as I'm concerned, we'll likely continue to be "content" with the players we have and do little in free agency after the season, and retain this current group of stars. Unless, of course, we hit next year's free agency as hard as the bulls think they might want to. (They're still a little unsure about moves that involve spending money)

As such, Jay Cutler can look forward to another 27 games of poor protection.

I'm in college, and when I bought my laptop I declined the accident protection plan. This has worked out fine so far, but if I knew for sure that I'd be knocking it to the ground on a weekly basis, I think its reasonable to assume that I would have paid a little extra to keep the investment safe. And not just a cheap loophole protection plan, which looked interesting but was outdated, or one that never really protected a laptop in Carolina, but a plan that would get the job done regardless of cost.

For that matter, if the accident protection plan wasn't available and I knew I'd be tossing my laptop to the sharks, I don't think I would have bought it in the first place. Can't use something thats broken.

An interesting video!

2009-11-05T12:06:05Z

Just thought this might spark up a conversation.

seems to me that a lot of us liked DA and now he is getting no playing time. I honestly would love to see him get a chance to play. I saw this video on youtube and thought it would be a good one to share with everyone.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pDVdhevQbUo

Enjoy! maybe next year he will see some playing time. ( I would rather see DA get playing time of Rashied )

Olin Kreutz is one of the dirtiest players in the NFL

2009-11-05T08:06:53Z

Well, despite all of the critcism about the soft and ineffective play of the offensive line this year, at least one member of the unit is taking a different approach...

SI did a poll of some 296 NFL players back in September. The poll asked them to rate the dirtiest players in the league. Our starting center came in 12th on the list. Well, if you can't block your guy legally... Actually, maybe Olin's on to something. It seems that overall, our offensive lineman are just too damn nice and polite to those opposing D-lineman and linebackers. Maybe a little extra pushing and hitting when the refs aren't looking is just what we need. lol

Ask Revenge of the Birds

2009-11-04T22:48:00Z

Hello Windy City, Andrew from Revenge Of The Birds stopping by to see if you have any questions about the Arizona Cardinals. Yes, we are an up and down team. Why? I don't know. It could be the youth a key positions, or it could be that this team is not mentally strong enough to handle national praise. With that being said, the Cardinals are coming off an embarrassing loss to the Panthers, and are facing the critics again. The Cardinals may use the "no respect card" this Sunday, so watch for a different looking team then last week. But what do I know? They might come out an prove me wrong. Ask any questions and I'll stop by to answer them whenever possible. And if anybody here could do the same at our site, that would be appreciated. Thanks.

Key Player to keep an eye on: Dominique Rodgers-Comartie

2009-11-04T20:52:33Z

via images.theage.com.au

Dominique Rodgers-Comartie is the Cardinals best and worst player corner. He's athletically gifted but at the same time gives up some big plays from time to time as he is still developing. The match up between him and Hester will be a very interesting one. Both are very good players that are still learning their positions at the pro level. You can bet there will be times in the game where they get the best of each other. This is really going to be a tough game for the Bears to move the ball through with playmakers in secondary like Rodgers-Comartie, Antrell Rolle and Adrian Wilson. Then you have Karlos Dansby lurking in the middle of the field that is capable of making a big impact on a game. This is gone to be one of those games where the Bears are going to have to get their points from other phases too.

Photshop contest

2009-11-03T23:24:04Z

We haven't had one of these in a while

If you want you can use another picture

I just wanted to get this started again

I have one of Wolfe and Idonije created as well with Idonije paving the waywhich reminded me of these contests. Post as many as you like and the one with the most recs will win. Contest ends next Friday (after niners game) if people want lots on time.

Try this one too

or this

or may be this

YOU CAN USE ANY PICTURE FROM ANYWHERE

Begin

The Upcoming Schedule & DA Defense

2009-11-03T19:32:26Z

The defense bothers me... every week... they stink... they are injured.. blah..blah...blah.. Read below for the schedule ahead vs. a lovely piece of creation called the Chicago Bears Defense... no pun intended..

The Defense, considering we had so much hope in the beginning of the season, is in shambles. Sure we gave up 6 points to the Cleveland Browns, but that's it? I have been following the Bears since 1989, and have seen two dominant defenses: 2001, and 2005-06. That's it! As it stands now , we have the Cardinals (great offense, even though they lost last week), the Niners ( with an improving Alex Smith), the Eagles( with McNabb and company), the Vikings(Brett and his gang, plus AP), the Rams (well , they are the Rams), the Pack( an improving Aaron Rodgers), and Baltimore (with Flacco, and the defense). Then the Vikings again (more Brett and AP), AND the hapless, hopeless, and who's our QB(Detroit Lions?) Are they back or what? 1-7 so far? So two gimmes(St. Louis and Detroit) and then what? Against our defense? Scary!!! Any comments from the crowd? I am new at this blogging thing!!! GO BEARS!!!

Free Agent To Be Offensive Linemen

2009-11-02T22:54:24Z

The CBA negotiations have a lot to do with what can and can't happen in next year's free agency, but assuming the status quo, here is a breakdown of who will be available and a write-up on the top guys: LINK

A sample:

Jahri Evans, New Orleans Saints (26)
Jahri Evans is continuing to grade out as the team’s best run-blocking linemen week after week. The Saints have done a nice job of efficiently running the ball through the middle and on the right side of the line. His continual high level of play and positive, team-first attitude should translate to a high-end offensive guard contract at year’s end. Expect the Saints, who have nothing but positive things to say towards Evans, to richly reward him for his hard work and production.

The top guys won't really be available; they'll get franchised or will sign with their current teams. But of the 2nd-tier guys, is there anyone who knows anything about them? Who can the Bears' get? Who should they target?

Our Offensive Line:

NAME............ base salary.........Signing bonus( unamortized)....Other bonus ...TOTAL.. Contract. year

5. Beekman J $460,000 $97,500 -0- $557,500 2010

16 Garza,R $745,000 $583,000 -0- $1,328,000 2011

30. Kruetz O $2,333,000 $3,000,000 -0- $5,333,000 2010

33. Loius Lance $310.000 $10,0000 -0- $420,000 2012

38 Omiyale,F $620,000 $450,000 $3,880,00 $4,950,000 2012

40. Pace. O $1,350,000 $333,333 $3,650,000 $5,333,333 2011

45. Shaffer,K $183,000 750,000 $1.,450,00 $2,383,000 2011

51. Williams C $385,000 $100,000 $1,391,250 $1,876,200 2011

Garrett Wolfe

2009-11-02T22:21:11Z

Now a lot of you have been doubting Wolfe and saying he cannot be an effective compliment to Matt Forte

Well I don't think so

Lets take a look at the stats

22 carries 120 yards

1TD

YPC-5.5

Long-36

Now this is behind a horrendous o-line and some stupid into the gut play calling by Ron Turner that somehow he has turned into big plays(or a good gain by carriying guys on his back or refusing to go down without being completely surrounded). Turner has also not used Wolfe at all in the passing game with only 2 catches for 12. He could be very effective in the screen game but silly Turner does not know how to use anybody.

Also don't say it was in garbage time since he ran HARD and the defense couldn't bring him down with one guy. Also if people just give up they shouldn't be playing.

Some reminders

here

and here

Plus other plays which didn't make the highlight reel but were nice

Wolfe is a good compliment rb who makes the line look ok

Time For The Bears To Step Up And Bear Down (Poll)

2009-11-02T21:44:31Z

If the Chicago Bears plan on going to the playoffs this year they had better plan on winning this Sunday or you can forget it. Coming up on the midway point fo the season the playoff picture is starting to take form and if you look at our schedule moving forward it is not going to get any easier than how it started. Granted we did have alot of road games to start the season, but a 4-4 record halfway through just wont cut it for a team with playoff aspirations. That Browns games to me was as irrelevant last Monday as it is this Monday. Time for everyone, players, coaches, management, and fans to move forward from this game.

The NFC North- With the Vikings crushing the hopes and dreams of Green Bay fans with their sweep of the helpless and OLineless Packers this last weekend, that leaves the Bears as the only team left to even compete for the division. And as much as I think that the Bears will never win the division this year, you just cant leave it out of the realm of possibility with 2 games still to play against each other and all the other variables that can go into the rest of the season, injuries etc. But the Packers still have an eye at the wild card, but we will touch on that later. Keeping up with Minnesota before we play them will not be an easy task after their bye week they play 3 straight home games against the worthless Detroit Lions and then against the underacheiving and injury plagued Seattle Seahawks before we come to town.

The Bears on the other hand have a season changing game on the horizon going up against the defending NFC Champion Arizona Cardinals at home, a team that just got whipped by the Carolina Panthers and will surely be coming in with a bad taste in their mouths and a mindset to get back to form. This will be a true test to see if the Coaches and Players learned anything from the dismantling defeat they took at the hands of Carson Palmer and the Bengals. Lets just hope for rain, snow, anything that can hinder their nasty recievers from having a huge game. Hopefully they arent prepared for our crappy playing surface much like the Saints of years past and fall coming out of their cuts. After watching the Panthers-Cardinals game this past weekend I will tell you that the key to keeping up with Arizonas potent offense, who will put points on the board, is to forcing them into mistakes with pressure on the QB. The Panthers forced 6 Turnovers including 5 interceptions, so Im thinking that Lovie needs to dial up some exotic blitz packages that we havent seen yet to keep Warner making bad decisions.

And on offense it is obvious what the Bears need to do to win this game and that is execute in the red zone. For some reason this has been a problem this year between the play calling and the run game. And no Im still not convinced we have gotten the run game going yet even after Fortes 2 TD performance. But a week ago I would have been spelling gloom and doom for the run game going up against Arizona who had the top run defense in football, but after giving up 270 yards rushing this past week, hopefully Carolina exposed them of some deficiancies in that area. But by in large the Bears offense, even with an inept running game, has had no problem moving down the field so regardless of how it happens they need to find ways of putting the ball in the end zone if they plan on winning and moving 2 games back of Minnesota at 5-3 with two to play against them still.

THE WILD CARD PICTURE: This is the more attainable goals for the Bears this year with the Vikings on pace to be at 9-1 before we play them on MY BIRTHDAY November 29th. The Good News: The nice thing about the rest of our schedule is that we control our own destiny on getting a wild card berth. We play the Cardinals, 49ers, Eagles (all consecutively I might add) and the Packers in December at our house, all teams that will be in the Wild Card hunt, we HAVE to get these wins to hold tiebreakers over them. The Bad News: We have already played 2 teams in the Wild Card Hunt and lost, the Atlanta Falcons and the Packers opening day. Those losses put us in a hole because now we HAVE to beat the Packers come December and we dont have another game against Atlanta who will almost certainly be running for a Wild Card spot with New Orleans seemingly unstoppable. Tonight will give a more clear picture of the South, my bet is the Saints win and Atlanta will be looking at the Wild Card.

The Packers are officially on Wild Card watch after being swept by the Vikings this year. The Giants arent helping their chances at wininng the Division after losing 3 straight games. And the Front runner of the East will be determined next week when the Cowboys and Eagles meet up on Sunday Night Football.

Right now the Division Leaders are the Vikings at 7-1 atop the North, The Saints at 6-0 controlling the South, The Cardinals lead by 1 game on the 49ers at 4-3 and the Cowboys and Eagles are tied at 5-2 so the wild card looks like this.

Cowboys/Eagles 5-2 (Play each other next week)

New York Giants 5-3 (Play San Diego next week)

Atlanta Falcons 4-2 (Play tonight against undefeated Saints)

G.B. Packers 4-3 (Play Tampa Bay next week)

Chicago Bears 4-3 (Play Arizona next week)

S.F. 49ers 3-4 (Play Tennessee next week)

Car. Panthers 3-4 (Play New Orleans next week)

So as you can see the East is going to give us the biggest problems on attaining a Wild Card spot, we need them to kick the crap out of each other for the rest of the year so one of those 3 teams fall off. Atlanta scares me cause we have already lost to them and they dont look like they are going to fall apart even if they lose to the Saints tonight. And Green Bay will be right there. The 49ers and Carolina have to win next week to prove they are serious contenders for a Wild Card spot.

Our Schedule: Just take a look at our remaining schedule. And you can break down what has to happen for the Bears to make the playoffs.

Wk 9- Cardinals

Wk 10- @49ers (Thursday Night Football)

Wk 11- Eagles (Sunday Night Football)

Wk 12- @Vikings

Wk 13- Rams

Wk 14- Packers

Wk15 - @Ravens

Wk16- Vikings (Monday Night Football)

Wk17- Lions

The Bears HAVE to win against the teams with losing records left on their schedule (49ers, Rams, Lions) and then with the rest of their schedule to make the playoffs we have to at least go 3-3 or 4-2 against the teams with winning records to make the playoffs. To me 9-7 will give us the same fate as last year, no playoff berth, so it is imperative to at least split against the better teams.

Poll

What do you think will be the end result of the Bears Season??

Chambers Waived

2009-11-02T21:21:41Z

"The San Diego Chargers lost patience with wide receiver Chris Chambers and waived him Monday, according to ESPN.com's Adam Schefter, freeing Chambers to sign with another team.

He was replaced in the Chargers' lineup two weeks ago after not making a play on four balls thrown his way.

Chambers has nine catches for 122 yards and a touchdown, but had clearly fallen out of favor with quarterback Phillips Rivers."

Source: www.espn.com

Didn't he used to be good?

I'm still confident with Hester at #1, Bennett at #2, and Knox getting healthy PT.

Olin Kreutz or Beekman next year at Center?

2009-11-02T15:49:19Z

So, we got to see Beekman in the game yesterday replacing the walking pile of failure known as Omiyale, he might be a decent LT, but that should hopefully be worthless to us as anything other than a backup since CW supposedly has a higher ceiling and is getting seasoned over at RT currently, and everyone can agree that Pace has looked abysmal and is getting replaced next year. So, since we saw Beekman replacing Omiyale and looking pretty good, I was thinking it only makes since to pace over the reins to Beekman at center and let him start making his mark in the league at his natural position. If anything his play at guard should give hope for a lot of improvement on the line with him at center.

Anyone disagree that Beekman should be the starting center next year?

Poll

Olin Kreutz or Josh Beekman next year at Center?

WCG Housekeeping

2009-11-02T15:48:21Z

Hello people... I thought it might be time for a few WCG housekeeping items.

First, many of you might be a little confused on some of the guidelines we have going on here at WCG. The game threads you may have noticed are probably the only place where we don't do too much moderation. While you may see plenty of cursing during the game threads, please don't let it carry over into other posts.

You can get away with some milder language around the rest of the site, but the game threads are where to express your more adult-rated thoughts.

Next, we have seen an influx of arguments going on around the site, where members are being insulting by others, doing some name-calling, etc. Keep it classy. If you can't engage in debate with someone without becoming insulting, don't debate.

Also, some features of the site that you might not be familiar with. When you click on a thread to find the most recent comments, you can find them in a pretty easy way. Say there is a thread with 200 comments, with only one new one, you can hit the "z" key and the page will auto-scroll to the new comment.

Try to remember to hit the "reply" button when replying to a specific comment. Not sure which comment someone has replied to? Hit the "up arrow" to see which comment it was in reply to.

If there are any site-related questions you have, whether it is about guidelines, functionality, etc., or if you have any general feedback, feel free to drop it in the comments section here, or shoot us an email.

If you have any post ideas, or anything you'd like to see from the writers, same thing, just let us know.

If you are interested in writing for the site, let us know.

If you just want to tell us how awesome we are, and how we are the best Bears blog on the internet, we want to hear that too!

In the meantime, keep doing all you can to make WCG the best it can be... we are not a Yahoo or youtube message board, and hold ourselves to higher posting standards than that. Our hard work and success is directly related to the contributions from our members, and we want to make this your place.

Thanks for reading, and Go Bears!

good to see Forte back in it.

2009-11-01T21:43:55Z

Its been a while but i feel better....

now that Forte had a good game today. 90 yards and 2 touchdowns are more like the numbers we saw last year. Considering that our O-Line is still complete garbage ( 4 sacks allowed today ) Forte looked good. Most of his carries were 4 yards or more including a few 8, 10, 12 yarders. I am still a firm believer that Forte is still the same man he was last year. I think that he will continue to have a good year with a few more touchdowns and there is a small chance he could still come out of this season with a thousand plus. Either way, He is still my favorite back and I will always support #22

Poll

do you think Forte still has it after todays game, given the condition of our o-line?

26 Head Coaches

2009-11-01T03:30:17Z

Have won the Super Bowl (12 of them have won it multiple times).

Someone here at WCG brought up the other day how long it usually took to win the Lombardi Trophy.

Here is the breakdown:

Lombardi: 8 years (Though that's inaccurate. He won the NFL Championship in his 3rd season. The SB wasn't invented until his eighth).

Ewbank: 6 Stram: 10 McCafferty: 1 Landry: 12 Shula: 3 Noll: 6 Madden: 8

If you count Lombardi as winning it all in his third season, you have an average of 6.12 seasons before these guys won it all.

The next group would start with the Bill Walsh era, 30 years ago.

Walsh: 3 Flores: 2 Ditka: 4 Parcells: 4 Gibbs: 2 Seifert: 1 Johnson: 4 Switzer: 2 Holmgren: 5

Shanahan: 3 Vermeil: 3 Billick: 2 Belichick: 2 Gruden: 1 Cowher: 14 Dungy: 5 Coughlin: 4 Tomlin: 2

I would toss out these four (Flores, Seifert, Switzer and Tomlin) as they had just taken over teams that had recently won the SB. I would also toss out Cowher because he is an anomaly. His 14 seasons was as much a function of the patience of the Rooney's as anything else.

You are left with the other 13 HC's averaging 3.23 seasons to win it all. If you include the five I just omitted you are left with 18 coaches averaging 3.5 season to win it all.

Lovie Smith is currently in his sixth season as HC of the Chicago Bears. Since the days of Bill Walsh, no HC has taken that long to win the Super Bowl, with the exception of Bill Cowher.

Lovie better hope that he wins it all real soon or that the McCaskey's have the patience of the Rooney's.

Get Your HOF Vote On!

2009-11-01T01:52:00Z

We've touched on this before and I even believe it has been posted but thought it was a good time to revisit a time when we were positive we had a good team. JCPenny/Van Heusen has recruited various writers and NFL people to represent each team and select those players that are not yet in the Hall of Fame and should be.

As to be expected Jerry Rice is the run away winner. The Bears have one guy in the top ten, Richard Dent(#8), but do have a few more selections in the running:

Steve McMichael
Jay Hilgenberg
Jim Covert
Buddy Parker
Clyde Simmons
Clark Shaughnessy

If you want to see any of these Bears higher up on the list, head on over and get your votes in now.

Bears need a running attack and have to win all the games against the bad teams

2009-10-30T14:09:12Z

It seems by now Matt Forte is never going to regain the flash he showed last year. Is it time now the Chicago bears get a little desperate and try something else. Maybe Throw Devon hester in the back field and see what he can do. They could use him like the Steelersused Kordell Stewert some years ago. Devon Hester can show Chicago bear fans the unique Multi functional talent that got his that huge contract. the fact is both Hester and Forte are showing nothing in offensive flash. Not having a running attack is putting pressure on Jay Cutler and hurting the team. It was a mistake to get rid of both Thomas Jones and Cedric Bensonand rely on somebody who was unproven and only had one good year. What is Curtis Enis doing these days. this next game and some other ones against very beatable opponents are crucial. They cannot afford to have many losses as the Chcago Bearsseem uncapable of beating the good teams. To have any chance of even a nice 9-7 team like last year, the Bears have to win out right against the scrub teams like the Cleveland Browns this weekend. Wear your orange and support and cheer for them to destroy the brown wearing their best Sunday's orange jerseys. If the Bears don't win huge like the packers last week this will be a disappointment.

WCG Trick or Treat

2009-10-28T19:28:10Z

This is a tad bit late, but you know what they say...

With the trick that our beloved Bears played on us last weekend in the Cincy Jungle, the NFL has provided us with a treat this weekend by giving us the Cleveland Brownies in our house.

I wanna dedicate this thread to all things Halloween. So, let's talk:

Costumes: Are you and/or your kids dressing up in any Bears gear, ex-players, or even a retired Honey Bear? What about dressing up as a Chicago Bears' offensive linemen, although this costume has been proven to scare no one.

Traditions: What do you do each Halloween? Do you deck the house out and pop out of the bushes to try and scare little kids until they cry? Do you go to a crazy downtown party? Do you stay at home, turn off all the lights and act like you're not home because you don't wanna be bothered by little brats begging for candy?

Pumpkins: I'll be knee deep in pumpkin innards tonight as I'll be carving a Tigger and a Brobee for my 19-month old. To keep this Bears related, I also created three team designs (see below). I'm not sure how good these will work since I haven't tried them out, but feel free to use download 'em and give 'em a try.

To download the Bears' primary logo template, click HERE.

To download the Ditka template, click HERE.

To download the Bears' alternate "bear head" logo template, click HERE.

• • • • •

Happy Halloween weekend Bears fans. Here's to hoping it'll be a lot less scary than the one we just faced.

One more frightening thought before I go... LINK'ers (click at your own discression).

JA wasn't happy with the lack of adjustments

2009-10-28T15:50:24Z

Here's what Jerry Angelo said in a one on one with Larry "The Team Player" Mayer. I found it quite interesting and a little refreshing. http://www.chicagobears.com/news/NewsStory.asp?story_id=6246

How do you explain what happened to the Bears in Cincinnati?

I don’t want to take anything away from the Bengals because they are a very good offensive football team with a great receiver, a great quarterback and a running back who’s having a Pro Bowl year. But what really surprised me was that we weren’t able to make the needed adjustments in terms of slowing them down or stopping them. We let that go really throughout four quarters. We couldn’t slow them down and make some stops or even force them to settle for a field goal instead of a touchdown to keep us in the game where we could have some hope. That surprised me. I didn’t expect to see that.

Jerry goes on to talk about team effort and whether a loss like this (Bengals 45-10) should cause him to re-evaluate what he thought of this team.

I'm just glad to see some accountability being put out there. I think (in JA's way) he's calling out Lovie. Maybe Lovie isn't as safe as we thought?